Tuesday, January 29, 2013

What journals do you read?

Someone asked me recently about the journals I regularly read. The more accurate term is "skim" or "glance through," since who has time to really read deeply in the journals? While I sometimes get journal alerts and tables of contents by email, I find this difficult for archaeology journals. I want to see the photos and maps, not just the titles and abstracts. And it is still not as satisfying to see the pdf online as it is to see the journal in my grubby little paws. I find myself going to the library less and less to look through the print journals, however, mainly because I don't have time. But here is my list of the archaeology journals I regularly follow, at least reading the tables of contents and trying not to miss any issues.

**NOTE - these are archaeology journals only. I do not include anthropology and history journals that may include archaeology, nor any of the many urban or social science journals I follow.

1. Subscriptions

Ancient Mesoamerica

Latin American Antiquity

2. Skim the print versions in the library if possible:

American Journal of Archaeology

Antiquity

Journal of Field Archaeology

American Antiquity

3. Important journals I keep up to date on:

Cambridge Archaeological Journal

Jr. Anthropological Archaeology

Jr. Archaeological Method and Theory

Jr. Archaeological Research

Jr. World Prehistory

World Archaeology

4. Journals I review less frequently, but eventually I will see all issues:

Geoarchaeology

Jr. Archaeological Science

Jr. Social Archaeology

5. Journals I generally avoid:

Archaeological Dialogues

Looking at my checklist of journals, these are about one-quarter of all the journals I regularly follow. Sorry about Archaeological Dialogues. It is not on my checklist, mainly because I don't think I've ever seen an article in it that seems rigorous, useful, and/or interesting. And it's the end of a long day of staring at carbon date calibrations, stratigraphy, and ceramic results, and I'm getting punchy. Maybe I'll go home and read some journals (right).

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About This Blog

This blog contains information and opinions (mostly mine) on professional publishing issues in archaeology. I am especially concerned with quality control, Open Access, and communication with other disciplines.

About Me

I am an archaeologist who works on Aztec sites, with an interest in comparative research on cities, households, empires, and city-states. I view my discipline, archaeology, as a Comparative Historical Social Science.
My home pageMy papers to downloadMy page on Academia.edu
I am Professor in the School of Human Evolution & Social Change at Arizona State University; Affiliated Faculty in the School of Geographical Science and Urban Planning; and Core Faculty in the Center for Social Dynamics Complexity. Also, I have an affiliation with the Colegio Mexiquense in Toluca, Mexico.